Taliban meet with delegation from the US and the European Union, which promises 1 billion euros

The Taliban met with a joint delegation of USA and the European Union (EU) this Tuesday in Qatar, while Brussels pledged to provide humanitarian aid of 1,000 million euros for Afghanistan.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on Tuesday an EU aid program aimed at “preventing a huge humanitarian and socio-economic collapse in Afghanistan”, During a virtual G20 summit organized by Italy.

The “Afghan people should not pay the share price of the taliban. That is why the Afghan support package is for the Afghan people and the country’s neighbors who have been the first to help them, “said Von der Leyen in a statement.

The package, worth 1 billion euros (1.16 billion dollars), includes a provision of 300 million euros already approved by the EU, and also specialized supplementary aid for actions such as vaccination, reception, protection of the civilian population and respect for the human rights, the Commission explained.

“Act, and quickly”

The Doha talks between representatives taliban, of the EU and the United States this Tuesday were facilitated by Qatar, which has long hosted the political office of the taliban.

According to EU spokesperson Nabila Massrali, the exchange should “allow the United States and Europeans to address issues” such as freedom of movement for people who want to leave Afghanistan, access to humanitarian aid, women’s rights or impede that the country becomes a sanctuary for “terrorist” groups.

“It is an informal exchange, on a technical level. It does not constitute an acknowledgment of the ‘interim government,’ ”he explained.

To date, the Taliban government has not been recognized by other countries.

The G20 leaders reaffirmed their promise to provide humanitarian aid to Kabul, while acknowledging that they are “very focused” on the fight against terrorism, the White House said.

The head of the Italian government, Mario Draghi, whose country is hosting the G20 meeting this year, explained that this group of countries contemplates “a general mandate” from the UN to supervise the international response to the socio-economic problems in Afghanistan.

According to him, however, it is still “early” to recognize the Taliban regime, despite the fact that “some kind of involvement” on their part will be necessary to get humanitarian aid to the country.

The EU seeks to prevent a “collapse” of the Asian country, declared the head of European diplomacy, the Spanish Josep Borrell, before the meeting on Tuesday.

“We cannot be content to just watch and wait. We have to act, and quickly, ”he added.

“We want to have a positive relationship with everyone,” Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said in Doha on Monday.

“We believe in balanced international relations. We believe that such balanced relations can save Afghanistan from instability, “he added.

For his part, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, urged the world to donate more money to Afghanistan to avoid its economic collapse, but also criticized the failure to fulfill the promises of the taliban on the rights of women and girls, following the abuses committed during his first government, from 1996 to 2001.

“I am especially alarmed to see that the promises made to the women and girls of Afghanistan by the taliban they have been broken, ”the UN secretary general told reporters.

Priorities

The return of the taliban to power is “a reality that we must take into account […]. The most important thing now is to interact with them, ”Mutlaq al-Qahtani, a special envoy for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, declared on Tuesday, dodging a question on under what circumstances the Qatari government might recognize the taliban.

The person in charge made these statements during the opening of the Global Security Forum, an event that takes place in Doha on the sidelines of the dialogues between Europeans, Americans and taliban.

“The priority now is the humanitarian situation, education and free movement” of people who wish to leave Afghanistanhe added.

The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and overthrew the regime of the taliban, in response to the attacks of September 11, 2011 on US soil and planned by Al Qaida from Afghanistan. US troops withdrew at the end of last August, following an agreement with the fundamentalists.

The rise to power of the taliban led to the evacuation of more than 100,000 people from Afghanistan, who feared being victims of abuse or acts of revenge by the new government.